A foodie romance!
Thanks so much for agreeing to be with us today, Heather!
Thank you so much for having me! I always love coming to a new-to-me blog to meet readers!
What 5 things should readers know about you?
- I’m Canadian. It’s not really that important, but I sometimes say the wrong word, spell with a random U thrown in for good measure, and crave poutine fries on a regular basis.
- I’m terrified of spiders. Not just afraid. Terrified.
- I love, love, love dystopian, post-apocalyptic, and adventure books. And zombies. Love me some zombies.
- I’m a reality TV junkie. Seriously, it’s a disease.
- My most favorite celebrity crush is Bruce Willis. I know. He’s getting old. But I think he’s like fine wine, just getting better and better with age. Mmmm. His voice is so super sexy…
Bruce Willis? Old? Perish the thought! 😉
(Mini Moe #2 and I love poutine, BTW. So, so yummy. So not good for you. #1 won’t even try them—more for us, then!)
Tell us all about your main characters—who are they? What makes them tick? Most importantly, what one thing would they need to have with them if stranded on a desert isle? 😉
Kali is a food critic who can’t cook to save her life. She’s feisty and real and knows exactly what she wants. In this case it’s a cookbook deal and Mac. I think Kali would want a pizza delivery service if she was stuck on a desert island. Otherwise she’d definitely starve!
Mac is a restaurateur and cooking school owner. Growing up as a foster kid, cooking was the thing that saved him when he felt lost in the world and he’s worked hard to get everything he has in life. Now he’s giving back to other underprivileged youth and he won’t let anyone derail his efforts, especially not Kali. I think the one think he’d want on a desert island is cast iron skillet. I’m sure he’d cook a mean coconut crab in it. Or something else that sounds more appealing. I’m not a chef.
LOL—I’m not sure desert islands come with pizza delivery services! (Though they totally should…and now I’m picturing a Gilligan’s Island episode where they all ate pizza for dinner yet still remained stranded at the end…)
Where did the inspiration for this book come from?
I watch a lot of cooking shows and I’m always amazed that these judges know enough about food to critic other people’s dishes. Then I starting thinking, what if someone didn’t know what they were doing but just faked it? And the idea was born!
Inspired by reality TV–awesome 😉
How long have you been writing, and what (or who) inspired you to start?
I’ve been writing for 5 years. I wanted to write for a long time but never had an idea. Finally I thought of a book idea that I was so excited to write. Once my kids started going to school a couple of hours a week, that became my writing time and it just grew from there. Now I can’t stop!
Fantastic!
What do you like best about being a writer? What is the most challenging part?
I love the freedom to work when and where I want to. As I write this, I’m sitting in my kids dance class watching them and answering questions. How many other jobs allow a mom to be with her kids and still do something she loves so much?! The thing I like least is the subjectivity of writing. I learned really quickly that what one person loves, another will hate. Realizing that you can’t please every reader all the time is a tough lesson, but an important one to learn. Still, I find that the most challenging thing to accept and deal with.
What are you working on right now? What can readers look for from you in the next year?
Right now I’m writing a new category romance and then I’ll be working on my full-length paranormal romance series. I still have 3 books to write to make it complete so hopefully readers will see those books coming in 2015-2016.
Sounds great—good luck!
What authors and/or books have inspired you?
I think I take a little inspiration from every book I read. Writing is a never-ending process of learning and striving to get better. Reading is not only something I do for fun because I love it, I also do it to learn from other authors.
Good answer!
What are you currently reading? What are your thoughts about it so far?
Right now I’m reading Dragonfly in Amber by Diana Gabaldon and it’s pretty good. I really loved the first one. This one was a slow start for me, but it’s definitely pulling me in now! I’m also reading The Clan of The Cave Bear by Jean M Auel.
I loved Auel’s book! Enjoy 🙂
If you had to “sell” this book in a single Tweet, what would you say?
With the chef teaching the critic to cook, this kitchen is too hot to handle! PINCH OF ME, DASH OF YOU #PinchDashhttp://ow.ly/FHIjT
Perfect!
About the Author
Heather Thurmeier is a lover of strawberry margaritas, a hater of spiders, and a reality TV junkie. Born and raised in the Canadian prairies, she now lives in New York with her husband and kids where she’s become some kind of odd Canuck-Yankee hybrid. Constantly wondering if she’s about to use the Canadian or American word, Heather often chooses wrong, confusing her editor and friends alike. Occasionally, she still adds an extra “u” to random words for no reason other than, “It looks right that way!” She firmly believes that world peace could be achieved if people used their mouths for things like kissing and eating delicious chocolate instead of talking so much. Living life like a romance heroine, Heather knew in their first kiss that she would marry her high school sweetheart. Two countries, two kids, and half a dozen pets later they are still happily in love. Heather’s currently writing her next romance, which will probably be filled with sassy heroines, sexy heroes, laugh out loud moments, and always a happily ever after. She loves to hear from readers on social media and her website!
Her latest release is the contemporary romance, Pinch of Me, Dash of You.
For More Information
- Visit Heather Thurmeier’s website.
- Connect with Heather on Facebook and Twitter.
- Find out more about Heather at Goodreads.
- More books (paranormal romance/sci fi, contemporary romance, new adult romance, post-apoc action, contemporary, and single titles) by Heather Thurmeier.
- Contact Heather.
Title: Pinch of Me, A Dash of You
Author: Heather Thurmeier
Publisher: Fated Desires
Pages: 119
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Format: Kindle
Kali can’t cook to save her life, but she can write. As a foodie reviewer for both a huge national paper and a successful blog, she’s well on her way to achieving her dreams. When she’s offered a cookbook deal, she thinks she’s finally made it…until her latest review comes out a little harsher than expected and the restaurateur threatens to expose all her secrets.
Mac’s whole life is spent in the kitchen, running a New York City restaurant and a culinary school for underprivileged youth. When donations stop pouring in for Mac’s culinary school after a scathing review of his restaurant, he fears he may have to shut the doors if he can’t find a way to turn things around. Then he meets Kali, the reviewer who admits she has no culinary skills. Now he’s made her an offer she can’t refuse—he’ll teach her to cook over the summer and help her with recipes for the cookbook if she’ll agree to write an insider piece highlighting the strengths of his culinary school.
But when things start heating up in Mac’s kitchen, keeping her hands on the food and off of Mac is proving harder than Kali expected.
Excerpt:
Mac watched as his name finally sank in. She stared at him, unspeaking. Her sea blue eyes were captivating, and made his tough facade waver. She opened her mouth as if to say something, but simply licked her cherry red, glossy lips instead.
What could she say? Sorry for slamming your business with an unfair and untrue review? That would be a good start, but highly unlikely given her history.
Kali leaned back into her chair while her fingers twirled a strand of strawberry blonde hair where it fell over her shoulder. “I’m still not sure I understand what this is about. So you own a restaurant. Good for you.”
Really? She took the playing dumb route.
He leaned forward, crossing his arms on the table. “I saw your logo. I know it’s you. So instead of pretending to be someone else, why don’t you admit it?”
“Why should I?”
“Because I’d like to have a normal, professional conversation with you and it would be easier to do that if you’d own up to who you really are. I know you’re the one writing Kali’s Kuisine.”
She sat forward suddenly, her face only inches away from his. “Would you hush up?” she whispered, her gaze shifting around the room. “If everyone knew who I was, or who you think I am, I’d be out of a job. Do you understand?”
He smiled—smirked, actually. It felt good to have her backed into a corner, like he was. “I do understand. Better than you could imagine. I bet outing you would be a career killer. Sort of like how a scathing review can kill a restaurant in a down economy. Funny how things are very similar for us.”
She narrowed her eyes at him. Oh, this girl had a temper. He kind of liked it.
Clearly he needed more caffeine if he was starting to be intrigued by the girl who’d slammed his restaurant and apparently didn’t care.
He understood why she had to keep her identity hidden. If restaurants knew what she looked like, they’d never serve her. He certainly wouldn’t have. Every place would be magically booked solid as soon as she walked through the door. No one would risk a terrible review from Kali’s Kuisine since she almost never wrote a good review.
A twinge of remorse for being so loud and obvious about her profession caught him off guard. He glanced around the small café wondering if he’d accidentally caught anyone’s attention. It didn’t look like he had. Of course, he didn’t know why he cared either.
“Did you just passive aggressively threaten me?” A mix of disbelief and anger rippled in her voice.
“No, but if you want to take it that way, I won’t stop you.”
There was something intriguing about the twinkle in her eye—a spark behind the anger. Something that told him she knew exactly what she was doing with those reviews and she was both shocked and amused someone would threaten to do the same to her. She would challenge him and he couldn’t wait. He was ready to take her on.
He was right, she was wrong, end of story.
Purchase at AMAZON